misery and goodies
Apr. 13th, 2010 09:06 pmDue to the large number of independent and secondhand bookstores in downtown Asheville, within walking distance of our hotel, I now have a variation of a particularly egregious song running through my head, to this effect:
99 books on a shelf on the wall
99 books on a shelf
Take one down, pass it around
Find a bookstore and buy some more
117 books on the wall
117 books on the wall
117 books
Take one down, pass it around
Find a bookstore and buy some more
123 books on the wall...
We were supposed to go on a tour of downtown/historic Asheville, but the guide had to go out of town on sudden business, so we wandered instead. Somehow this meant browsing art galleries and shops in snatches between book stores, bead stores, and yarn stores. Not that that's a problem.
Must remember to bring my camera with me tomorrow. Interesting architectures must be captured.
Of particular interest:
• Malaprop's is an independent bookstore along the lines of the Regulator and Quail Ridge, with a café and reading area attached. They have an entire shelf dedicated to Neil Gaiman, and dad found (with my help) three new linguistics books, one of which is autobiographical in nature.
• Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar: yeah, I thought it was an odd combination too, but they seem to make it work. The book part of the store is all second hand, but includes some very rare treasures, and there's a wealth of books you won't find through any other form of casual browsing. There's a selection of books near the door to the basement that have baseline prices and no order, and their cost goes straight to the Asheville Humane Society.
• Also, if you like Indian food and don't mind going for something a little more on the unusual side, Chai Pani is an excellent restaurant, themed around Indian street food. I enjoyed my pizza (naan with tandoori chicken, paneer, tomatoes, and caramelized red onions on a sweet tomato sauce) and pakuras (think tempura, except with a very light chickpea batter and three different sauces to choose between) very much. Yum!
99 books on a shelf on the wall
99 books on a shelf
Take one down, pass it around
Find a bookstore and buy some more
117 books on the wall
117 books on the wall
117 books
Take one down, pass it around
Find a bookstore and buy some more
123 books on the wall...
We were supposed to go on a tour of downtown/historic Asheville, but the guide had to go out of town on sudden business, so we wandered instead. Somehow this meant browsing art galleries and shops in snatches between book stores, bead stores, and yarn stores. Not that that's a problem.
Must remember to bring my camera with me tomorrow. Interesting architectures must be captured.
Of particular interest:
• Malaprop's is an independent bookstore along the lines of the Regulator and Quail Ridge, with a café and reading area attached. They have an entire shelf dedicated to Neil Gaiman, and dad found (with my help) three new linguistics books, one of which is autobiographical in nature.
• Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar: yeah, I thought it was an odd combination too, but they seem to make it work. The book part of the store is all second hand, but includes some very rare treasures, and there's a wealth of books you won't find through any other form of casual browsing. There's a selection of books near the door to the basement that have baseline prices and no order, and their cost goes straight to the Asheville Humane Society.
• Also, if you like Indian food and don't mind going for something a little more on the unusual side, Chai Pani is an excellent restaurant, themed around Indian street food. I enjoyed my pizza (naan with tandoori chicken, paneer, tomatoes, and caramelized red onions on a sweet tomato sauce) and pakuras (think tempura, except with a very light chickpea batter and three different sauces to choose between) very much. Yum!